Team

Join us!

Update - June 2024: We currently have a postdoc and phd position available!

 If you are interested in joining our team, please send an email to sarit[dot]szpiro@edu.haifa.ac.il with your CV and research interests.

 

 

Meet the team

Dr. Sarit Szpiro 

Principle Investigator
I am a lecturer at the department of special education at the University of Haifa and am part of the Edmond J. Safra Brain Research Center . Previously,  I completed my Phd in cognitive psychology at New York University under the supervision of Prof. Marisa Carrasco studying perceptual learning and attention. I continued my research studying assistive technologies in the field of human-computer interaction with a postdoc at Cornell Tech (supervised by Prof. Shiri Azenkot) and Harvard Medical school (Prof. Gabriel Krieman and Prof. Eli Peli). In between I also worked as a data scientist in various companies including Amazon Alexa.  
Amjad NassarProject: Technological solutions for assisting the visually impaired.     PhD student at the information systems department 

Haneen  Karah 

Project: Perceptual learning in vision and audition across the lifespan Hanin Karah is a clinical audiologist and a PhD student at the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa. Lately, she has published her first research “Auditory Perceptual Exercises in Adults Adapting to the Use of Hearing Aids”. In her PhD she will continue to work on perceptual learning. 

Maisa Aghbaria

Project: Perceptual learning in childrenMaisa is an occupational therapist and a master's student in the lab working on understanding how perceptual learning and plasticity differs between children and adults

Lior Maman 

Project: Assisting low vision with augmented reality 
Raphael DamouniProject: Augmented reality & low vision 

Mohammad Haj aliProject: Augmented reality & low vision 

Maayan Eisler 

Project: Quantity and preservation skills in children with intellectual  developmental disability

Smiling woman, hair covered in a scarf

Renana Twito 

Project: Perception in children with autism
Renana is currently a Phd student in the lab working on visual search and conservation in children with autism and intellectual disabilities. Previously, she was a Master's student in the lab and her thesis she examined the roles of priors in processing changes of facial experessions in autism. 
Ido Yarkoni

Project: Aiding visually impaired people, in particular the elderly, using Virtual Reality headset that assists them in identifying 

and enhancing objects in their environment


Mais Abbas

Project: How auditory and visual perception are linked in older adults

I hold BA in the Communication Sciences and Disorders. As an audiologist, I currently perform hearing tests and vestibular examinations on patients ranging in age from infancy to adulthood. I am now pursuing a Master's degree in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Haifa in the hearing and cognition cluster.  My thesis is under the supervision of Dr. Hanin Karawani and Dr. Sarit Szpiro, it aims to investigate age-related sensory decline in auditory and visual perception and their interaction with cognitive decline. 

Radan NasrallahProject: Visual Crowding, focusing on the effects of attention and Perceptual Learning, exploring how exogenous attention influences learning and transfer in visual crowding. Understanding VC more profoundly could pave the way for redefining and highlighting earlier signs of future learning disabilities. This study is Radan's thesis in Special Education under the supervision of Dr. Sarit Szpiro and Dr. Amir Yashar.Radan is a Linguist with a BA in Linguistics and English Literature, as well as an MA in Linguistics, majoring in Language Acquisition and Psycholinguistics. 

 

 Alumni

Face of a woman with straight black hair

Tanweer Milhem (Master thesis)

Project: Improving employment skills of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by exposing them to video prompts I am an occupational therapist (I hold B.O.T from Tel-Aviv University), and work with children and adults with autism, intellectual and developmental disabilities. I have always been passionate to help people, especially with special needs. That's why I chose to major in special education- Autism and Developmental Disabilities for my master's degree.
Man standing in a football stadium
Rami SalamehProject: Remote assistance using augmented reality to improve museum accessibility for people with low vision Master's student in Information Systems
Smiling woman with black curly hair

Tova Kimhi-Hananel

Project: Assisting ADHD students focus on teachers in the classroomMaster's student in the Special Education department

Mohamed Sliman

Cognitive Science student

Final project 2022


Project: Using big data to understand the needs of people with low vision
Serious face of a woman with long hair

Omer Marom

Project: How appearance and priors are modified throughout development 

MA student majoring in autism, in the Department of special education, at the faculty of Education in Haifa University. 

I hold B.A in special education and a teaching certificate from Oranim academic College. Currently, I study different aspects of children's perception under the guidance of Prof. Bat-Sheva Hadad and Dr. Sarit Szpiro. 

Eman Mhajne 

Project: How children learn and and modify priors in vision 
Master student in Special Education

Mohamed Sliman

Cognitive Science student

Final project 2022


Project: Using big data to understand the needs of people with low vision
Woman standing near a poster presenting to other young people

Amit Zarbiv

Cognitive Science student 

Final project 2021

Project: How parents with visual impairments play with sighted children

B.A student majoring in cognitive science and human resources. 

Karst Hoogsteen

Project: Assistive technologies for low vision 
MSc in Management Economics and Consumer Studies from Wageningen University. Currently a project manager at Bartimeus, Utrechet, Netherlands.